N.D. Politician Wants To Start Hemp Farm
David Monson began pushing the idea of growing industrial hemp in the United States a decade ago. Now his goal may be within reach — but first he needs to be fingerprinted.
Monson turned in an application Monday to the state Agriculture Department to become the nation's first licensed industrial hemp farmer. State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said Monson provided fingerprints with his application, which will be used for a background check to prove he is not a criminal.
The farmer, school superintendent and state legislator would like to start by growing 10 acres of the crop, and he spent part of his weekend staking out the field he wants to use.
"I'm starting to see that we maybe have a chance," Monson said. "For a while, it was getting really depressing."
Last month, the state Agriculture Department finished its work on rules farmers may use to grow industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana that does not have the drug's hallucinogenic properties. The sturdy, fibrous plant is used to make an assortment of products, ranging from paper, rope and lotions to car panels, carpet backing and animal bedding.
Applicants must provide latitude and longitude coordinates for their proposed hemp fields, furnish fingerprints and pay at least $202 in fees, including $37 to cover the cost of criminal record checks.
Johnson said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration still must give its permission before Monson, or anyone else, may grow industrial hemp.
"That is going to be a major hurdle," Johnson said.
Another impediment is the DEA's annual registration fee of $2,293, which is nonrefundable even if the agency does not grant permission to grow industrial hemp. Processing the paperwork for Monson's license should take about a month, Johnson said.
A DEA spokesman has said North Dakota applications to grow industrial hemp will be reviewed, and Johnson said North Dakota's rules were developed with the agency's concerns in mind. Law enforcement officials fear industrial hemp can shield illicit marijuana, although hemp supporters say the concern is unfounded.
North Dakota is one of seven states that have authorized industrial hemp farming. The others are Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana and West Virginia, according to Vote Hemp, an industrial hemp advocacy organization based in Bedford, Mass.
California lawmakers approved legislation last year that set out rules for industrial hemp production, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. The law asserted that the federal government lacked authority to regulate industrial hemp as a drug.
In 2005, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, introduced legislation to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana in federal drug laws. It never came to a vote.
Monson farms near Osnabrock, a Cavalier County community in North Dakota's northeastern corner. He is the assistant Republican majority leader in the North Dakota House and is the school superintendent in Edinburg, which has about 140 students in grades kindergarten through 12.
In 1997, during his second session in the Legislature, Monson successfully pushed a bill to require North Dakota State University to study industrial hemp as an alternative crop for the state's farmers.
Canada made it legal for farmers to grow the crop in March 1998. Last year, Canadian farmers planted 48,060 acres of hemp, government statistics say. Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the provinces along North Dakota's northern border, were Canada's biggest hemp producers.
"I do know that industrial hemp grows really well 20 miles north of me," Monson said. "I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be a major crop for me, if this could go through."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Monson turned in an application Monday to the state Agriculture Department to become the nation's first licensed industrial hemp farmer. State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said Monson provided fingerprints with his application, which will be used for a background check to prove he is not a criminal.
The farmer, school superintendent and state legislator would like to start by growing 10 acres of the crop, and he spent part of his weekend staking out the field he wants to use.
"I'm starting to see that we maybe have a chance," Monson said. "For a while, it was getting really depressing."
Last month, the state Agriculture Department finished its work on rules farmers may use to grow industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana that does not have the drug's hallucinogenic properties. The sturdy, fibrous plant is used to make an assortment of products, ranging from paper, rope and lotions to car panels, carpet backing and animal bedding.
Applicants must provide latitude and longitude coordinates for their proposed hemp fields, furnish fingerprints and pay at least $202 in fees, including $37 to cover the cost of criminal record checks.
Johnson said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration still must give its permission before Monson, or anyone else, may grow industrial hemp.
"That is going to be a major hurdle," Johnson said.
Another impediment is the DEA's annual registration fee of $2,293, which is nonrefundable even if the agency does not grant permission to grow industrial hemp. Processing the paperwork for Monson's license should take about a month, Johnson said.
A DEA spokesman has said North Dakota applications to grow industrial hemp will be reviewed, and Johnson said North Dakota's rules were developed with the agency's concerns in mind. Law enforcement officials fear industrial hemp can shield illicit marijuana, although hemp supporters say the concern is unfounded.
North Dakota is one of seven states that have authorized industrial hemp farming. The others are Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana and West Virginia, according to Vote Hemp, an industrial hemp advocacy organization based in Bedford, Mass.
California lawmakers approved legislation last year that set out rules for industrial hemp production, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. The law asserted that the federal government lacked authority to regulate industrial hemp as a drug.
In 2005, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, introduced legislation to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana in federal drug laws. It never came to a vote.
Monson farms near Osnabrock, a Cavalier County community in North Dakota's northeastern corner. He is the assistant Republican majority leader in the North Dakota House and is the school superintendent in Edinburg, which has about 140 students in grades kindergarten through 12.
In 1997, during his second session in the Legislature, Monson successfully pushed a bill to require North Dakota State University to study industrial hemp as an alternative crop for the state's farmers.
Canada made it legal for farmers to grow the crop in March 1998. Last year, Canadian farmers planted 48,060 acres of hemp, government statistics say. Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the provinces along North Dakota's northern border, were Canada's biggest hemp producers.
"I do know that industrial hemp grows really well 20 miles north of me," Monson said. "I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be a major crop for me, if this could go through."
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Treating farmers like criminals because they want to grow a cash crop like hemp is stupid. Most drug busts of "Pot" in fields is actually Hemp, which really shows the mind set of the DEA. Even in states that have legalized small amounts of pot for personal use - those people get busted too.
I acknowledged that pot and hemp are two different things in my first statement. I guess you didn't read that. I said that the laws don't discriminate between hemp and pot so when we free up hemp laws we also empower the pot growers that are filling our schools and poisoning our kids with marijuana.
It's funny to be called an idiot by someone who refers to them self as "Brainworms".
Keep trying
---
Marc, your abusive discourse is itself a species of idiocy. As believers in the power of public discussion, let's start over.
Many posters find your position imprecisely stated, if not completely vague. For the purpose of writing exactly what you mean, explain how you would like the laws to be written to avoid "slacking" the pot industry.
1. It would be important to declare whether you believe there ever can be hemp cultivation again in this country, under any circumstances.
2. Have you seen the hemp documentary "Hemp and the Rule of Law? The hour-long piece aired on PBS not too long ago.
3. How did the CA bill AB 1147, "The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act" fall short, and merit Schwarzenegger's veto?
4. GOP Rep. Ron Paul, TX, introduced the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005" (IHFA). Paul's bill amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to define %u201Cmarihuana%u201D as not including industrial hemp. Does that bill meet your concern about maintaining enforcement of pot laws?
It will surprise you, surely, to find many of those advocating hemp cultivation oppose the pot culture and industry as firmly as you. However, these advocates criticize the use of law enforcement in an ignorant, abusive manner to control pot-- even at the expense of genuinely useful agricultural products like hemp.
"Pot and Hemp are two different things."
Ask yourself,
Why would someone want no controls on a drug that is hurting millions of children and making billions in profit?
Why don't you tell us all where you sell your pot?
Did you even read what I said?
I said that "In the eyes of the law" the two plants are the same. Not in reality. I said that when the hemp laws are slacked the pot farmers are given free rain too, because the laws do not discriminate between the two. If we want to have a hemp industry and keep the pot out of the schools than we have to write the laws in a clear and concise way to make sure that those who are caught growing pot can't just say it's hemp and walk.
We need to do this for our kid's sake. I assume you care about kids and education?
Please research what is going on in California. Mendocino County now has thousands of pot growers producing billions of dollars of pot and shipping it to every state in the nation all under the lie of Medical Marijuana. The police can do nothing because they get their freedom from the hemp laws.
Check it out
"Another impediment is the DEA's annual registration fee of $2,293, which is nonrefundable even if the agency does not grant permission to grow industrial hemp."
AHHHH now it comes, the FEES and "non refundable" "registration" blackmail for the privilege of growing a plant that does not produce a high.
It's about Govt CONTROL and fees.